All the very best of us
by Miss Pennyfeather
Summary: An alternate ending to the season finale. Damon doesn't run into Kathrine when he leaves Elena's house. Instead he goes somewhere else. Damon/ Bonnie.


**Hey everyone, this is a little story I made up for the season finale. See, as much as I was impressed by that Kathrine/Elena/Damon moment with the kiss and everything, it still left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, mostly because Kathrine gets in the house and chops up uncle Gilbert's hand revealing she's a psychotic little tart. So there you go.**

**Plus, I kind of like Bonnie and Damon for some peculiar reason. So here is my version of the last scene with Damon from the season, before the Kathrine/Gilbert end. The kiss never happens and Damon doesn't meet Kathrine after leaving Elena's house. **

_Vanderlyle cry baby cry _  
_Though the water's a-rising _  
_Still no surprising you _  
_Vanderlyle cry baby cry _  
_Man, it's all been forgiven _  
_Swans are a-swimmin' _  
_I'll explain everything to the geeks _

_All the very best of us string ourselves up for love _  
_All the very best of us string ourselves up for love _  
_All the very best of us string ourselves up for love _  
_All the very best of us string ourselves up for love_

_The National - Vanderlyle crybaby Geeks_

Bonnie wasn't usually a big drinker, but tonight, she really felt like drinking a lot of wine.

She poured herself another glass as she looked out the window from her kitchen. One arm was hugging her waist as the other held the tall glass.

Tonight had been hectic, it had been insane. She could hear sirens ringing across the town. Policemen and firemen were all trying to sort out the horrible mess.

Who knew how many people had been hurt, or how many had died.

Mystic Falls didn't use to be a place of murder and chaos; it used to be a peaceful town full of wise people. Now everything was backwards. Her grandmother's death had been the end of an era.

Now she was left here all alone, having to face herself and her fears. She was a witch. And she had to live with that. She had embraced it. She felt strong and powerful, she felt like she had found herself, but at the same time, she felt very alone and estranged from everyone around her. Even though she knew deep down that her powers were a gift, they seemed to distance her from everyone, they seemed to make her resentful.

Her grandmother's death had left great marks on her soul. One minute she had felt so happy, the next she had felt so miserable. After closing her grandmother's eyes she felt compelled to hate all vampires. She felt compelled to sum them up as wretched trouble-makers. Until tonight, that is.

Tonight, she had saved Damon (and Stefan). And although she tried telling herself that she had done it for Elena and for their friendship, she couldn't exactly deny that it was partly done because in a way, Damon and Stefan were part of her life as well.

They were both close acquaintances. Sure, at times, they had their fights, especially with Damon, but she had come to think of them as decent people. She had even come to think of Damon as maybe good, since he seemed to care about Elena enough to make a couple of sacrifices. Her affection for Elena united her and the vampires.

She couldn't quite hate these two. She hadn't wanted them to die.

And Damon, well, he was quite something. He was very rude, selfish, arrogant and vain and he had tried to kill her and she had tried to do the same thing tonight.

She had expected all of them to die. But she had never truly wanted it. She was drinking now to forget everything, because she felt ashamed, ashamed of what she had done. The realization of it was like a cold shower, a splintering cold shower. Her only justification was her sorrow and she clung to it with all her might, even though it felt feeble. Her sorrow was great. It had blinded her. It had brought disaster. But her sorrow could do a lot worse.

She was glad it hadn't. She was glad she had stopped. She was glad she did the right thing. She was glad Damon wasn't dead.

Another siren was heard in the distance. She stepped closer to the window and rested her head on the pane. Would Elena be alright? What about her uncle, her uncle who had started all this? What about all those people who had killed innocent lives? What would happen to them? Would they be punished?

If they knew about her, if they knew she was a witch, would they do the same to her? She shivered, thinking how cruel and intolerant humans could be, how they could despise anything different or strange with such intensity.

They would probably think she was a menace too. Only she was a menace that wouldn't go down so easily.

At that same moment, she heard a knock at her door.

Maybe it was Elena. She rushed to the door.

It was Damon.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

'What are you doing here?' she asked coldly, closing the door behind her.

'I just saw a light and thought I'd drop by,' Damon said, shrugging his shoulders, trying to seem nonchalant, although it was obvious he was worn out by the events of the evening. He just wanted to hide it all behind his usual witty lines.

'Really? That's your excuse? Shouldn't you be with Stefan and Elena right now?' she asked, her tone still crisp.

'They're sorting things out by themselves, you know, crying on each other's shoulder, trying to help the town people, probably kicking Gilbert's butt too. I'd rather not get involved,' he said smiling bitterly.

'Huh and I suppose you don't want to do the same?' she asked, her tone this time slightly gentler.

'The last part maybe, but acting like a knight in shining armour, no thanks.'

'And yet that's what you did tonight,' she said smiling ironically. 'You tried protecting the town.'

'Yeah…why the hell did I do that? I hate this place, don't I?'

'Are you really asking me that?'

'I can't figure it out myself. This place is full of the worst memories of my life.'

'And probably the best too,' she said crossing her arms and giving him a stern look.

Damon smirked. 'There's too little of that.'

'This town grew on you. And so did the people. You can't help it.'

He chuckled looking out into the distance.

'You know, tonight, I tried doing the right thing or that kind of crap. I tried talking to Elena's brother, tried telling him the truth about Anna. Didn't work so well. I definitely didn't help the kid.'

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders.

'Damon, you can't help Jeremy. No one can right now. Not even Elena. He needs his time to mourn, to gather all that information Not only was he lied to continuously, but his love died. When the people you love die, no one can really comfort you, no matter how hard they try.'

He stared at her with sadness and nodded. She understood. And he understood as well. They had both lost those they loved. They didn't need words for that.

'It's stupid, I shouldn't have tried playing Stefan,' he concluded shaking his head.

Bonnie didn't reply. She was waiting patiently for him to tell her why he had really come. Did he really just want to have an honest talk? Didn't he just want to accuse her for everything she had done? Wasn't he here to twist the knife? To tell her she had been a terrible friend?

'You don't have to do that, you know,' she said at length. 'You could be a decent person on your own, no need to follow in anyone's foot steps. I know that's a hard concept to grasp for you.'

Now she was the one hiding behind her words.

He smirked again, rolling his eyes.

'Still mad at me, naturally.' After a pause he muttered, 'you have every right. You do.'

She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

'Which brings me to why I came here. I…wanted to thank you for saving my life,' he said stepping closer.

Bonnie didn't know what to answer to that.

'It's…it's alright. I did it for Elena,' she said, her voice weak. She didn't feel like a saviour herself.

'I know, but still, you forgot about your pain for a moment just to save me, which I appreciate.'

Bonnie looked down, holding back some invisible tears.

'You don't hate me for leading you and all the others into a death trap? You don't resent me for lying?'

'For a while I did. I really wanted to hurt you. You have no idea… But then I remembered you're better than me. And that you care about Elena and this town. And that you had your reasons, even if those weren't rational. The important ones never are.'

Bonnie hugged herself, as if a cold wind had swept around her.

'I'm really sorry…I'm really…it's just…' she began, barely holding back her tears, 'I wanted them to pay…'

'I know, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry about your grandmother. I'm sorry for everything,' he said.

'You're sorry?'

'I owe you at least that,' he said.

'No one can bring her back,' she spoke, wiping some small tears away rapidly. 'No vampire death will bring her back. I know that now.'

'She wouldn't have wanted you to do that anyway,' he said staring in her eyes.

Bonnie didn't know if it was the wine or everything that had happened tonight, but she just fell into Damon's arms and started crying silently.

Damon was shocked at first, because he thought Bonnie would never get close to him willingly and he hadn't intended on holding her either, but after some moments, a feeling of peace smoothed his face and he slowly put his arms around her, though awkwardly.

He felt oddly calm. Was this how it felt to comfort someone?

Bonnie was crying in his arms.

His lips almost touched her hair. Her quiet sobs shook her small body and each time he felt the tremour and he heard her heart beating like a wild bird.

And he suddenly realized that he was doing the right thing.

Bonnie needed some comfort. Even if it was from him.

He hadn't been able to help Jeremy, but maybe he was supposed to help Bonnie.

That's what tonight was about.

Even though they had almost killed each other, even if tonight had been her fault, even if he couldn't trust her and she couldn't trust him, even though he should feel angry or betrayed, he felt glad he was alive. And he felt glad she had saved him.

Even though he really couldn't stand Bonnie sometimes, even if he really liked her sometimes, here they were, on her porch and she was crying in his arms.

And he felt nothing but peace.

He would think about Elena and Stefan later. He would face them when he felt strong enough, when maybe his thoughts wouldn't be so intoxicated by her presence.

Now, at least, he was away from them, away from the drama, away from those painful feelings and he had peace.

With Bonnie.


End file.
